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Poseur Rant

2K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  Bruce R. 
#1 ·
What the heck is it with all the people that feel the need to slap AMG stuff (or Brabus stuff) onto stock Mercedes-Benz vehicles? If your car isn't an AMG, why put an AMG emblem on it? Worse yet, why would someone put a Brabus emblem on it? Are people THAT insecure about how they'll be perceived by others?

Sorry for the rant, I just get a little annoyed when I see AMG badging or wheels or this or that on stock MB cars. For cryin' out loud people - they're ALREADY some of the best cars out there, even in stock form! Why is that something to be ashamed of?
 
#2 ·
I believe this can be discussed up and down for days. So better just leave it and let people do what they feel comfortable with. I would never badge a car my self, but in some circumstanses I think it's acceptable (for an example the yellow SLK on the forum).
 
#4 ·
I can't say I'd rebadge one myself, never wanted to own something that pretends to be something it isn't.

For me it'd be like my wife walking out wearing one of those QVC man made diamonds passing it off as the real deal, I would know its not the real thing and that for me is what would matter where as I guess others may not care as long as they think people are taken in by it.

But then I don't have a problem with anyone who wants to go down that road for whatever their reasons, live and let live.
 
#5 ·
MB puts some AMG items on the stock models too. I believe the "Sport" models come stock with AMG wheels. I don't think you should add any additional AMG badging because you have AMG wheels though. You shouldn't feel like a poser just because you have AMG wheels on a "stock" SLK either since it came like that from MB.
 
#6 ·
Until I started looking at MB cars I didnt know the difference,doubt if many non MB owners know one from the other.
Although I am not into that sort of thing myself-
My motto:If it feels good,no one is hurt,do it,who cares about what someone thinks about my car and what I do to it.
 
#7 ·
What the heck is it with all the people that feel the need to slap opinions on things they know very little about

Are you trying to say peeps should have no free will to alter there cars?

Brabus are a tuner plane and simple, if you have a mb and the cash they will do as much or as little as you want.

I for one have no interest in owning a stock slk, I looked for a long time to find one that had a Brabus conversion, I have bills from Brabus for the last owner for £13000 + I have spent another £5500 with Brabus on a car that would be worth £14000 as stock. Some may think thats madness by i think its worth every £
My slk was just a plane old 02/320 long ago.
40% of Brabus cars have mb on the log book only the ones made by Brabus from a bare shell are reged as Brabus, the rest have been coverted from stock by Brabus for customers who allready own the mb.



And peeps putting amg wheels on there cars :eek: !! The amg wheels are a vastly better looking then the stock slk jobbys, so just for looks alone its worth the swap.
and as mb uk put amg badges on a slk with just wheels, body kit and exhaust, they kinder watered the amg name a little themselfs,
So if peeps put the same stuff on (wheels/kit/exhaust ) why isnt that a amg ?
 
#9 ·
///AMG puts their name (or badging) on their products. ///AMG is owned by Mercedes. If you have ///AMG wheels on your car, and many of us do, does that make you a poser, or a guy that has ///AMG wheels on his car?
 
#11 ·
Sheesh, didn't mean to stir up such a hornet's nest. . .

FWIW the AMG wheels aren't my biggest pet peeve, although I find it interesting that not a single person said, "yes I put AMG wheels on my car because I like them better" or "yes, I put AMG wheels on my car because they're lighter". Either would be okay I guess. I just don't particularly care for people going out of their way to make the car pretend to be something it's not. If that's not one's intention, I guess I can stomach it.

papa, your car sounds amazing. I'd love to see an honest-to-goodness Brabus-modified machine in person at some point. Maybe they'll have an exhibit the next time the Auto Show comes to Los Angeles. One can only hope. Their tuning stuff is top-notch. I guess it does kind of beg the question though - at what point is it okay to do it? If I slap a Brabus exhaust on my SLK, does that justify putting a Brabus emblem on it? I'd tend to think not, but where does one draw the line? Interesting question and a subjective one I guess.

My original post was in response to some stuff I'd seen on ebay (naturally) where the seller had a bone-stock SLK with an AMG badge on it and was pricing it as if it were an AMG. That kind of stuff is just flat-out ridiculous IMHO.

Sorry to have ruffled any feathers about this - most of you guys seem to have reasonably good taste in the car/look of your cars and hopefully nobody here would do something like that. . .
 
#12 ·
I think you would be shocked how many peeps know nothing about cars, That amg badge that some one put on would mean nothing to them, As they dont know what amg is, Really we are car nuts or mb nuts but most are not, So have no idea what it means.

I drove round here for 10 mths in mine with the odd car fan here and there asking about my car, Most other peeps either didnt know what it was, thought it was a Bentley ( coz of the B's ) or a normal slk and didnt really see a diff, But topgear put one on the tv and now its diff lots of peeps now come and have a look at it, often come back to find hand prints on the car:( was better when no one knew what it was:mad:
 
#14 ·
As mentioned, this debate has popped up again and again on the board.

I know plenty of guys that consider themselves to be well informed "car guys" and know nothing about Mercedes in the way of trim levels.
But on the other end of the argument, the people that would normally know that AMG is the tuned/performance end of a Mercedes model will also be more likely to know that an AMG badging consists of the two numbers (32, 55, etc) so the cars with 230 or 320 AMGs will stick out like a sore thumb. Then you have those that may debadge the number and place the AMG or Brabus badge alone.

It comes down to whether you are trying to impress the legion of non-Mercedes drivers that are oblivious to the trim levels (and possibly won't know the difference anyway), or are willing to be embarrassed around the fewer Mercedes owners or knowledgeable drivers that will know what you are faking.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Absolutely right sometime, somewhere, someone will call you out to prove it

Then the siht hits the fan and you look a fool

Just looking at the exhaust can usually tell the tale
 
#18 ·
I think it is perfectly fine to add tuner parts on a car, but it is totally unacceptable to "upbadge" car by adding AMG or Brabus where there was none in the first place.

Badging is really a marketing ploy that consumers have fallen for, and even support (e.g. putting AMG badges on non-AMG badged cars). And yes, i know AMG LETS you put it on non AMG engined cars, and yes, at ONE TIME IN THE PAST they themselves put it on cars without the AMG engines, but ADDING IT ON afterwards is showing how vain and superficial you really are.
 
#20 ·
rasoul said:
Anyone got an extra SLK230 badge set they're willing to part with? I've been thinking about rebadging my car... :)
That's funny, I was thinking of putting a "0" after the 32 on mine...... :D
 
#21 ·
You guys are all sheep following a trend.

Im gona be a trend setter and put a M power badge on mine:D
 
#22 ·
Hmmmmmm an ///M 32 Brabus, that should scare the panties off some sweet young thing.................... :big laugh:
 
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